Hinged boot flap portable elevators



July 15, 1952 HYMAN 2,603,345

HINGED BOOT FLAP PORTABLE ELEVATORS Filed Nov. 16, 1948 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 ly'zMmz for:

u y 15, 9 B. M. HYMAN 2,603,345

HINGED BOOT FLAP PORTABLE ELEVATORS Filed Nov. 16. 1948 2 Sl-lEETS-SI-IEET 2 j .{ieqzjamivzfbZ/gyman 3 a I Q 9- Q Patented July 15, 1952 Benjamin J I-lyman, Moline, I ll assignor to International Harvester Company, a. corporaum .01 New Jersey Application November 16, 1948, Serial N0. 60,357

. 1 Claim. 1 This invention relates to a material handling mechanismand more specifically to a portable elevator of a type utilized for conveying grains and other farm products.

Portable elevators of the typ which r en-c Theseandotherobiects will become more readerally utilized on the farm for handling farm ily apparent upon a reading of the description materials usually consist of a wheeled frame on Whenexamined in connection with the accomwhich a conveyor trough is positioned, the trough panyin drawings. being movable .in a series of inclined positions the drawings}: H for conveying materials to abarn or silo. The .Fig. 1 :is a plan view of a pgrtable elevator conveyor trough is provided with an endless having a tractor connected thereto to supply a conveyor which has a plurality of laterally exsource of power. 7 v tending cleats. The endless conveyor is mov- Fig. 2 is a side elevational view-pf a bootasee able so that the cleats travel longitudinally from tien of :a portable elevator. W a lower section of the trough to an upper sec- Fig. 3 is an enlarged view similar to Fig ,2 tion whereupon the materials carried on the showing abootsection and-1a portion of an endupper section are moved to the discharge end of less; conveyor. g v 4 the conveyor. A receiving end is generally pro- :Fig. A isan enlarged end view of a .bqoj', {slew vided .at one end of the trough and the matetion of aportable elevator. rials to be elevated are dumped into the receiv- ,Fig. 5 is a side =elcrzational yiew of a bootsecing end. The receiving end is also generally tionsof ga portable-elevator, said view showingthe provided with a boot section within which the open position of a hinged boot fiap whereby the driving sprockets for the endless conveyor are conveyor maybe utilized for engaging bales of positioned. The conveyor is trained about the hay. p sprockets and as the sprockets are driven from 2 Fig. 5 is .a sectional'view through a bootseca a .power'source the cleats are moved longitudition of .a portable elevator, said 'yiew ibeing taken nally tdeffct lifting of the materials. substantially along theline 6 60f Fig, .4,

During the normal operation of the conveyor ;Referring particularly to "Figs. 1', 2 and -3, .a when the chain is utilized for lifting grain or portable el evator is generally desig ated by th other granular materials, the materials are reference character lgn. 1I'he portable elevator mares dumped into the receiving end .by means I ilihcludes a longitudinally extending trough 1].. of a receiving hopper. In certain instanceahow- The trough |.l .is -supponted on a wheeled-.frame ever, it is desirable to utilize the portable elevator igand is adapted .to 'beraised vv ith respect" to for conveying bulk materials such as baled hay the wheelframe .llbyamechanism (not shown) or other baled farm products. It can readily be ii -la conventional manner. The trough ii inappreciated that the bulk materials such as baled cludesan upper section -l3-and a lower section .l-il. hay are quite 'difiicult to handle, and manual Adischargeend 1.5 is provided atone extremity lifting of the bales to the conveyor trough is a of the trough 1H :andabootsection 1-5 is provided task which the farmer would rather avoid. It is at the ether. v I a prime object of this invention-to provide an 40 g$he Joootseetion jlB includes ;a housing ;l'1. improved boot section incorporating means The ,hous ing 4;] ;,c om prises a pair of laterally whereby baled materials may vreadily be lifted spaced-vertical zside plates t8 having inwardiy from the-ground onto the conveyor trough {of the extending;flange pertions i-9. he side plates 1-; elevator without the necessity of manuallylifts te -con n c e d gby means Qf an arcua e orsemb ingithebales to place them on the receivingiporcylindriealend plate 20 having an peel-rin 12-1 tion of the elevator. a. p vided-fo gentr nceor accessinto the entranre "It is another object to provide an improved fifths housing 11; v Y I boot section tor a portable elevator, said boot Ashaft 2-2 is supported by the sidep'latesilgB section including a housing which includes a and is rotatable thereon. The shaft 22 has conportion of the driving mechanism of the connected thereto driving sprockets 23 which are veyor, the boot section also having a hinged boot t tab e by mea s of a t b Shaft 4 a p ed to fla or closure member hi h i adapted t b be driven from a universal shaft 25 in turn driven readily removed from the boot, thereby exposing by 9.- tractol 0 other Source Of p w 25- cleats and portions of the conveyor immediately An endless yor 1 s d pt d 0 on itudiadjacent the boot whereby the cleats may readnally move in the trough H with respect to the (o1. iris-.17 2) ported-on the ground and move the bales to the trough of the elevator .for subsequent transportation.

upper section l3 and lower section I4. The conveyor 21 includes a pair of laterally spaced chains which are respectively trained about the sprockets 23 and are driven by said sprockets. The conveyor chains are also connected by means of a plurality of laterally extending cleats 29. As best shown in Fig. 6 the cleats 29 are movable longitudinally with respect to the lower section [4 and are movable from this lower section to the upper section l3 forengaging and transporting materials delivered to the upper section. As previously indicated, the end plate 20 is semicylindrical and is spaced uniformly from the edges of the cleats, thereby providing suflicient clearance so that the cleats may be moved in a semi-cylindrical path from the lower to the upper section.

A closure member or hinged boot flap 30 is positioned over the opening 2|. The boot flap 30 includes hinge portions 31 which are adapted to cooperate with hinge portions 32 on the end plate 20 for hingedly connecting the boot flap about a horizontal axis. A hinge pin 33 extends transversely through the hinges 3| and 32. A boot flap 30 is also shaped to conform to the semi-cylindrical shape of the end plate 20. The boot flap 30 may be secured in the closed position by means of sheet metal screws 34 or other fastening members which extend through the boot flap and through the inwardly extending flanges I9 of the side plates 18.

As shown in Fig. 6, when the boot flap is in its closed position over the opening 21 the flap follows the contour of the end wall or plate and is also spaced from the ends of the cleats in a uniform manner. Laterally spaced sheet metal housings 35 are provided at the sides of the side plates I8 and serve to support the boot section 16.

When the portable elevator is utilized for transporting granular materials, a receiving trough (not shown) may be utilized for delivering the materials to the receiving end of the conveyor trough. In this operation the hinged boot flap is in the closed position shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 6. However, when it is desired to utilize the portable elevator for transporting bulk materials such as baled hay, the sheet metal screws 34 are loosened and the hinged boot flap 30 is rotated into the position shown in Fig. 5. In this position the opening 2] is uncovered and'portions of the conveyor and cleats of the same are exposed. Thus a bale of hay which may be situated on-the ground may be placed up against the cleats of the conveyor which are immediately adjacent the sprockets and the cleats will engage the bales. thereupon lifting the same onto the conveyor trough, whereupon they are moved upwardly toward the discharge end [5. The hinged boot flap 30, therefore, is effective to expose the cleats of the conveyor as they move in a clockwise direction around the sprockets 23, the cleats thereupon engaging the bales and lifting them without the necessity of having the operator manually lift the bales from the ground onto the conveyor structure. -When the lifting of the bales has been completed and the operator again desires to transport granular materials, he simply closes the boot flap and fastens the same by means of the sheet metal screws 34. It can thus be readily appreciated that the transporting of baled material is greatly facilitated and the port able elevator is easily adapted for this purpose. The formerly trying task of lifting the bales onto the conveyor trough is eliminated and an efficient conveying operation is possible. It is. of course, obvious that by exposing portions of the cleats as they move over the sprockets 23 numerous types of material in bulk can readily be lifted onto the conveyor trough.

Thus applicant has provded a novel improvement in a portable elevator and it must be understood that changes and modifications may be made which do not depart from the spirit of the invention as disclosed nor the scope thereof as defined in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A material handling mechanism for handling products such as grain, bales and the like including a conveyor trough having upper and lower longitudinally extending sections, a boot section at one end of the conveyor trough, said boot section normally resting on the ground for supporting one end of the trough, the boot section also including a pair of laterally spaced sprockets journalled thereon, an endless conveyor trained about said sprockets, said conveyor including a plurality of cleats movable on said sprockets from the lower section to the upper section for moving materials on said upper section, a housing enclosing said sprockets, said housing including a pair of vertically extending side plates, said end wall having a portion spaced uniformly from the sprockets to provide clearance for said cleats, said arcuate Wall being provided with an opening adjacent the upper ends of the sprockets and providing an entrance into said'housing, means for closing said opening including an arcuate closure member, the conveyor being operable to handle grains or the like during a closed position of the closure member, means hingedly connecting said closure member to said end wall for movement about a horizontal axis, said closure member normally covering said opening and being movable to an open position to uncover said opening for exposing cleats and portions of the conveyor which are trained about said sprockets, whereby bales partially supported on the ground may be engaged by the exposed cleats for moving said bales into said conveyor trough.

BENJAMIN M. HYMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Sinden Jan. 7, 1941 

